Nomadic Resorts

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About us

We are Nomadic Resorts. We create tented pods, treehouses and Eco Resorts.

Our interdisciplinary design team works from offices in the Netherlands, Mauritius and South Africa. Our services include Masterplanning, Architectural Design, Landscape Design and Interior Design.

Using a holistic approach, we create sustainable projects that reflect a true sense of place and fit organically into their natural surroundings as we believe that designs should serve as a bridge to connect nature, culture and people.

Our team specializes in sustainable architecture, contemporary bamboo construction, treetop living concepts, tensile membrane design & engineering, regenerative landscape design, permaculture and low carbon engineering. We are closely linked with a network of specialists in various green building and sustainable design fields including waterscape ecologists, renewable energy technicians, treetop canopy walkway and treehouse specialists, bamboo builders, aquaponics experts, permaculture designers, tree surgeons, spa consultants and structural engineers which allows us to draw on wide ranging expertise to overcome technical obstacles.

We have worked on numerous luxury resorts, retreats and camps in far flung places, for amongst others Playa Viva, Resplendent Ceylon, Six Senses resorts and spas and Soneva Group, Banyan Tree,  &Beyond, Wilderness Safaris, African Bush Camps and Tri Lanka.

Our Values

  • Organic

    Nomadic Resorts derives its inspiration from the natural environment that surrounds us, we strive to create designs that celebrate biodiversity, compliment the natural features of the sites we build on, and respect the natural forms that surround us.

  • Innovative

    We strive to change the way resorts, camps and lodges are designed, built and operated. We research, we experiment and we test new methods, materials and technologies to offer our clients optimized solutions using both state of the art technology and knowledge from local vernacular architecture.

  • Holistic

    We follow a biophilic approach integrating both vernacular and innovative materials and products, resulting in holistic design solutions. Biophilic design seeks to connect our inherent need to affiliate with nature in the modern built environment.

  • Inclusive

    We are thirsty to learn new methods and approaches and are happy to share our skills and knowledge with others. We create positive projects in collaboration with the communities we work in.

  • Respectful

    We respect the input of our clients, their stakeholders and our fellow consultants. We listen to the opinions of all parties involved.

Team

  • Louis Thompson

    Chief Executive Officer

    As a LEED AP, green building and landscape design professional specializing in the realization of eco-resorts, tented camps and high end residential villa developments; Louis has 10 years experience of designing, building and operating high-end, mixed use development projects in Asia with Six Senses resorts and spas.

    Louis has a BTS diploma in Hotel Management and Marketing and studied Hotel Design and Planning at Cornell-Nanyang Institute of Hospitality Management in Singapore.

  • Olav Bruin

    Creative Director

    Being an accredited Architect, Olav has over 10 years of experience in designing and masterplanning resorts, private residences, housing projects and schools, covering several continents in countries like the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Mauritius, Surinam and the Caribbean.

    He is specialized in tropical architecture, bamboo construction and utilizing local crafts with local sustainable materials that fits symbiotically into their natural surroundings.

  • Neil Hendrikz

    CEO
    Lighthouse Sustainability

    Lighthouse Sustainability, a Nomadic Resorts’ sister company, is responsible for the engineering, fabrication, project management and installation of tented products.

    In the year 2000, Neil entered the then innovative and evolving application of fabric membrane structures in remote wilderness hospitality developments in Africa. As Managing Director and owner, he later led a newly established, award-winning design & development company, employing “new generation” lightweight tensile membrane technology, before joining the Nomadic Resorts group. Neil has extensive experience in company systems, sales, project management, manufacturing, logistics and installation of tensile structures in Africa supported by strong financial literacy.

  • Sascha meyer

    Production & Installation Manager
    Partner at Nomadic Resorts

    Sascha has a German engineering background and has been working in tensile membrane sector for over 20 years. He has managed the whole production process from design and engineering, through to installation on site. He is familiar with a wide range of architectural fabrics including PTFE, PVDF and ETFE. Sascha has produced or installed many of the world’s most celebrated membrane structures…notably the Burj al Arab hotel in Dubai.

  • Freddie Catlow

    Sustainability Construction Manager
    Partner at Nomadic Resorts

    Straight out of KTH Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm, where he was part of a Masters program focused on Sustainable building concepts, design and construction, Freddie joined Nomadic Resorts in 2015. In keeping with Nomadic Resorts INCLUSIVITY value ethos, as Construction Manager, Freddie recruited, unskilled and supervised a team of over 100 local fisherman from Kirinda village to work on the Wild Coast Tented Lodge significantly benefitting the local community. Freddie’s experience includes surveying, building setting out, civil works, landscaping, and coordinating construction and interior fit out. He has a strong commitment for sustainability, reusing natural site capital and local materials in the design as the project develops.

  • Ricardo Moreira

    Environmental Engineer
    Partner of Nomadic Resorts

    Ricardo is partner of Nomadic Resorts and co-founder and managing director of XCO2. With both architectural and engineering backgrounds, and 15 years of experience in the industry, he is a firm believer in collaboration between disciplines and design integration as major enablers for delivering robust sustainability solutions.

    A CIBSE Low Carbon Energy Assessor, Ricardo holds a masters degree in Environmental Design and Engineering from University College London, where he received Commendation for his innovative research. More recently, he has been leading efforts on CarbonBuzz and other industry collaborations.

  • Marc Hernandez Folguera

    Project Manager

    With a background in Computer Engineering, Marc joined the Nomadic Resorts team in 2017 as Project Management Assistant for the construction of Wild Coast Tented Lodge, where he was responsible for the recruitment, training, and supervision of over 100 workers from the local community.

    In addition to his current position as Project Manager, he is our in-house photographer. His photos of our projects have been published in dozens of magazines, websites and newspapers, such as The Times, ArchDaily and New York’s Galerie Magazine.